73% OF AMERICANS SUFFER HEADACHES

By HAROLD M. SCHMECK Jr.

Published: October 22, 1985

ALMOST three-quarters of Americans suffer from occasional headaches and more than half suffer from aches of the back and muscles, according to a nationwide survey that also links the prevalence of pain in various ways to age, income, stress and family history.

The survey was based on a nationwide sample of 1,254 adults and an additional 102 executives of advertising agencies and 63 members of the New York Stock exchange. The two special groups were added in an effort to gauge the effect of stress on a person's pain experience.

Dental Pain Was Least Common

While 73 percent said they had suffered from headaches, and more than 50 percent reported occasional back pain, muscle pain and joint pains within the last 12 months, only 27 percent said they had suffered dental pain during the same period. The survey found dental pain the least common type reported by Americans.

Young adults were more likely than older Americans to report pain of all the major types, except for joint pains, which were most common among the elderly.

The survey found that people who suffer much stress in their daily lives also reported, more than other respondents, that they experienced the main types of pain surveyed: headaches, backaches, muscle, joint, stomach, premenstrual and menstrual pains.

The survey did not find stress associated selectively with any single type of pain, but people who reported high levels of stress also reported high prevalence and severity of all kinds of pain.

Cost to U.S. Economy

The survey was conducted by Louis Harris & Associates with consultation by Dr. Richard A. Sternbach, director of the pain treatment center of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, Calif. The project was sponsored by the Bristol-Myers Company on behalf of its pain relieving drug Nuprin. Dr. Sternbach said time lost because of pain costs the American economy about $55 billion a year.

Dr. John J. Bonica, an internationally known pain expert of University of Washington at Seattle, said the project was important as the first national study of American pain experience. He said the findings will be particularly important in future efforts to understand the social and psychological factors in pain experience.

The survey found women somewhat more likely to experience pain than men, and whites of both sexes more likely to do so than blacks or Hispanic people. There were no striking differences among income groups although those with household incomes of $50,000 or more were somewhat more likely to report suffering from muscle pains.

Role of Exercise

People who exercise three or more days a week, drink little and neither smoke nor watch television were found less likely to report pain than people who do have those habits.

Family histories of the respondents ''strongly suggested a genetic link with pain,'' the report said. Those whose parents suffered from severe pain at some time in their lives were themselves more likely than Americans in general to report occasional pains of the back, muscles and joints.

Among advertising executives, 84 percent had suffered headaches and 59 percent reported back pains. In contrast, 59 percent of the floor traders had suffered headaches and 39 percent had suffered back pains.